Let's talk about this "basement" here. Why is it so "royal"?

The Royal Basement is a music blog and podcast based in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Our Story

The Royal Basement is the squirmy little lovechild of Greg Franklin, designer/musician/writer/cat wrangler/raconteur. (Here's the part where I shift uncomfortably from third person to first person references.) I started creating zines when I was in high school. In the early/mid-90's in Olathe, Kansas, zines were the best outlet imaginable for a fidgety kid who loved music and art and was trying to figure out a way to express how my still-forming grey matter was reacting to the music I was getting exposed to through other zines and, eventually, the Internet in its infancy. Since those early days of late nights with scissors, glue sticks, and a limited Kinko's budget, I've taken that nervous energy and divided it quite a few ways:

This site is an attempt to corral all of those interests into something a bit less sporadic and a bit more cohesive. I'm personally excited to share an unfiltered view of my musical discoveries/rediscoveries, as well as having conversations with folks about their musical experiences, the tools they create with, and hopefully showing off some sketches/progress of the songs I'm working on for my own material along the way. If you're interested in chatting, please drop me a line.

This site is an open letter to music and the joy it has brought me in my life. I hope the words and thoughts contained herein bring you some of that same joy. Cheers.